(Age Group 7-11yrs)

“Ooh, I’m freezing!” exclaimed Merope Quint to her best friend
Hallie Parker.
Hallie had been staying at Merope’s place, a lovely bungalow by the
English beachfront, for the summer. The two friends were having
loads of fun, visiting different places every day. Merope had just
been swimming in the town pool that evening. Hallie, however, was
addicted to her comic book and preferred to read it lounged on a
poolside chair while watching her best friend splash around in the
pool. They were walking back home after yet another lovely evening.
“Of course you will, if you’ve just had a long swim!” laughed Hallie.
“Lucky I chose not to wet myself in the water.”
“Well, we could just go home and play Uno or watch some television,”
suggested Merope. “Honestly, I’ve got no energy to do anything else
today.”
“I’m all in for being a couch potato,” said Hallie, “because I’ve never
been an outdoorsy person, as you perfectly well know.”
The girls grinned at each other.
“Well, we’d better hurry,” Hallie said, “or else Mr and Mrs Quint will
be worried!”
“Right you are,” nodded Merope as the two girls made their way
back home.
However, complete silence greeted them when they cheerily
announced their arrival and opened Merope’s lovely family bungalow
by the sea, which had been her home for the past few years. It
was very surprising indeed, for Mrs. Quint was always very prompt
in fussing over the girls as soon as they arrived, armed with hot
chocolate and their other favourites.
“Well, maybe Mum and Dad have just gone to the market,” said
Merope. “We’re always out of bread or milk.”
“Or maybe they’ve gone to get your bicycle repaired,” suggested
Hallie. “Didn’t you mention that your bicycle broke just a week ago?”
“Yes, but the shop is closed – the shopkeeper is on sick leave,”
pointed out Merope. “And the market isn’t open either – it closes in
the afternoons.”
Hallie sighed, “Hmmm… this is fishy. They would have not left
without mentioning it to us this afternoon. Well, it’s good we had a
spare key. Let’s call your dad and find out where they have
disappeared!”
They quickly dialed Mr Quint’s phone number. When they got no
answer, they tried Merope’s mom’s mobile number too. No answer
there either.
“Oh dear,” Merope kept whispering, sounding horrified. “Oh dearie!”
Hallie, however, wasn’t panicking. She was trying to figure out
where Mr and Mrs Quint could be. Just then, the phone rang – it
was Mrs Quint!
“Hello, girls?” she said.
“Yes,” replied Merope, sounding relieved, “we’re here. Mummy, you
scared the life out of us –“
“Yes, you did –“ sighed Hallie.
“- we were so very frightened – y-you weren’t there and – where
are you?” continued Merope.
“We’re at the beach,” replied Mrs Quint. “Sorry, we thought we’d
made a quick stop over to get some roasted corn and we ended up
staying a teensy bit longer. Of course, we would come home, but why
don’t you girls come out here? We found a new friend we’d like you
to meet!
“Ooh, alright then,” said Hallie. “We’ll come to the beach, Mrs
Quint.”
“Yes,” agreed Merope, “we’ll come.”
“Good to hear,” said Mrs Quint. “You’d better hurry, we can’t wait
here forever!”
So Merope and Hallie quickly made their way to the beach and found
Mr and Mrs Quint. They were with a tall man who smiled upon
seeing the two girls.
“Why, hello, you two,” he said in an oddly gentle tone. “My name is
Charlie Benson. You must be Merope and Hallie. Why, Mathilde and
Frank were telling me ever so much about you!”
Hallie shook hands with Charlie. However, Merope’s face was
unwelcoming and cold. She didn’t stretch out her arm or wave or
smile. After a while, she motioned for Hallie to come with her. When
Hallie did not recognize the signal, Merope dragged her away.
“What’re you –“ began Hallie.
“Shush!!” hissed Merope. “Now, tell me: do you recognize this man
who introduces himself as Charlie Benson?”
“No,” replied Hallie, shaking her head. “I’ve never seen him before.”
“Well, if you look closely,“ said Merope, “you will notice that he looks
quite like the criminal James Robert – you know, the one who’s been
robbing all the houses on the waterfront.”
James Robert was a criminal who stole prize possessions from all
rich homes. Almost every day, someone’s gold or jewels were stolen,
and it was all thanks to him! It was all the news channels could
report about.
“I do know about James Robert,” said Hallie. “They managed to
get a picture of his face on the news a couple of days ago, right?”
“Mm-hmm,” nodded Merope. “Yes, they did. And it looks like Charlie
Benson’s, doesn’t it?”
“Well, I can’t be sure…”
“It does,“ said Merope, coming to the conclusion for herself. “But
still, we can’t be sure whether this really is James Robert. The
good thing is, we’ve got a way to find out whether he is.”
“What’s that?” asked Hallie.
“Follow me.” Merope took Hallie by the arm and pulled her towards
Charlie.
“You stay here,” she whispered to Hallie so that Charlie couldn’t
hear, and before Hallie could say anything, Merope sped off to the
coconut water shop.
“Excuse me,” she politely said to the shopkeeper, “may I borrow
that rope and knife?” She was pointing to the rope that was on a
wooden chair nearby and the knife that was in the shopkeeper’s
hand.
“Sure,” replied the shopkeeper, handing over the rope and knife. “I
have a couple extra, anyways.”
Merope thanked the shopkeeper and went to join Hallie and Charlie.
They were watching a couple trying to drag their little daughter
away from the beach. The beautiful kid with short black hair and
strikingly green eyes, was throwing a huge tantrum and refusing
to leave.
“That kid is so cranky, isn’t she?” asked Merope.
“Yes, she is,” agreed Hallie, realizing what Merope was up to. James
Robert’s mother had been interviewed on TV about their family,
and Mrs Robert had mentioned her little daughter Ellie, a spoilt
brat, who was the apple of her brother’s eye. She was James’
weakness and he would appease every single tantrum of hers. The
kid on the beach reminded Merope of Ellie. Hallie caught on to
Merope’s plan of trying to get Charlie to confess that he was
James Robert and played along.
“You girls are right,” said Charlie absent-mindedly. “This kid looks
very much like my little sister Ellie. Of course, this is nothing
compared to the tantrums she threw.”
Merope quickly twisted Charlie’s hands and held them tightly behind
his back, tying them tightly with the rope; her Knotting Badge
from Guide’s camp had come in quite handy after all!
Hallie quickly picked up the knife, which had fallen to the ground.
“Ah, caught you!” she cried triumphantly, raising the knife against
Charlie’s neck. “Merope, go fetch your parents!”
Merope didn’t need telling twice. She sprinted across the beach to
Mr and Mrs Quint, who were relishing ice creams in a shop at the
far end.
“MUMMY! DADDY!” she yelled to them. “Come here, quickly!”
“What is it, Merope?” asked Mr Quint, rushing towards her with
Mrs Quint. She led a bewildered Mr and Mrs Quint to where Hallie
was holding their new found “friend” at knifepoint! “What’s all this,
girls?” exclaimed a shocked Mr Quint.
“Listen to this,” replied Merope. She took out her phone on which
she had secretly recorded their conversation with James and played
the recording.
After listening to it, Mr and Mrs Quint were shocked. Their
charming new friend, a criminal?
In the meantime, a few passers by on the beach had gathered
around and the commotion had also attracted a few policemen on
patrol, who were quickly making their way through the crowd.
“Now,” said Mr Quint, “tell me: are you really James Robert?”
“Oh yeah,” sniggered James. “And I was doing a pretty good job
fooling both of you, until these nosey girls had to come along!”
“That’s enough!” said the policeman, who quickly handcuffed James.
The other one turned to the girls and said, “You did the smartest
thing and managed to trick the criminal who has been evading the
law for many weeks now! We may have a few questions for you all
later on – but we will be in touch. For now, we are taking James
into custody – he has to answer for all the crimes he has
committed”.
As soon as James was dragged away, everyone surrounded the girls
and lauded them for their bravery. Mrs. Quint immediately sprang
into action and fussed around, shooing everyone away! “Please let
the girls have some space – I think they have had all the
excitement they can take on one evening!”
The crowd slowly dissipated, as Mr and Mrs Quint, along with
Merope and Hallie made their way back to the ice cream stand at
the far end of the beach, right outside Merope’s home.
“Well,” said Hallie, grinning,” now that’s settled, let’s have a proper
time at the beach!”
The girls had a good time at the beach, guzzling down ice cream
and walking along the shore, with the waves gently lapping at their
feet.
“You know, I never knew I could handle this,” said Hallie. “Catching
a criminal, I mean. I never knew I could do it. But I guess I can –
I mean, together we can, we did it, Merope!”
Merope smiled, “I think our names are going to be featured in the
news tomorrow! Imagine that!”
“Yes,” said Hallie, grinning widely. “When we get back to school, I
bet the whole class will be dying to hear the whole story from us!”
“Ha ha! What an adventure! Well, maybe we should keep our eyes
open – to catch the next criminal!” Merope grinned, as she skipped
along the path leading to their cottage, hand in hand with her best
friend, right behind her parents. This was the best holiday ever!

“No, please no. ALBERT! DANIEL! Anyone! HELP !

“I’m coming to get you, Lucy.”
“OH MY GOD. ALBERT! DANIEL! ANYONE! SAVE ME.”
“No use. They can’t hear you. It’s only you and me. Playing a good old game of tag. Come on
Lucy be a sport.”
“ANYONE!”
“I’m coming, I’m getting closer, I can feel it. Better run for your life, Lucy.”
“And cut! Well done! That was one of the best scenes we’ve shot so far. Excellent work. Let’s
wrap up for today guys. Go treat yourself to some champagne, you deserve it. Also, Rachel, get
that make-up off you don’t want people thinking you’re an actual ghost.”
“Yes sir. I will do that.”
Day 52 of shooting for the upcoming movie “Let’s Play” had just come to a wrap. Richard Dew,
the director and producer of this movie, was delighted with how the work was coming along. He
was a very punctual man and the fact that everything was going according to his schedule made
him immensely proud. Richard thought that the cast deserved a break and so, told them that
he’d shut everything up all on his own and join them for drinks later.
Once the last cast member had left, Richard gave a huge, long sigh and got to putting all the
scripts into their folders. He heard a slight ruffling noise. It had come from the window across the
hall. Frustrated, he walked over to see what had possibly made that noise. There was a dog
peeing its heart away on the walls of this beautifully constructed set. Richard swiftly shooed the
dog away and went back to sort the scripts.
After finishing the scripts, Richard wanted to do a final check of everything and just make sure
everything was ready for the shoot on the next day. He went through everything pretty quickly
and it seemed like everything was good to go.
Finally, relieved, Richard walked to the door, yearning for that glass of champagne with his
colleagues. He turned the handle of the door. It wouldn’t budge. He tried again. He shoved the
door a little. It didn’t move an inch.
“Hello…?”
“Hello, Richard. Do you want to play a game of tag?”
“Rachel, this is not the time to play pranks. Come on, get out of there and let me out!”
“Who’s Rachel? I don’t know any Rachel. I don’t know who you’re calling Rachel.”
“Okay no. Guys, you are really getting to me now. You scared me. You won. The prank’s over.
Let me out. Now.”
“What prank? All I’m asking you to do is play a game of tag.”
Richard was very agitated at this point. It wasn’t the first time one of the cast members had tried
playing a prank on him on set. But none of them had ever gone this far. The laughter usually
started pretty soon.
“Rachel, Daniel… whoever it is. I need this to stop now or else you won’t have a job tomorrow.”
“RICHARD! Now you’re making me angry. I told you I am not Rachel. Just answer the question.
Do you want to play a game of tag?”
“Okay, you know what? I’m going to play along so that I can personally see that smug look on
your face vanish when I fire you.”
“Okay. I’m coming to get you. Run, Richard, run.”
Instead of running, Richard tried to trace the source of this voice. The first time he heard the
voice, it seemed to have come from the Styling room at the back of the set. He made his way
there.
“I’m getting closer.”
“Okay, I got you. Rachel, you’re fi-”
He saw her. It. He wasn’t sure what it was anymore. The colour drained from his face. This
didn’t seem like a prank anymore.
“Oh Richard, you actually thought it was your… what was her name… Rachel?”
“Wh-who are you?”
“I’m just someone who wants to play tag with you. And evidently, you’re on the verge of losing”
Richard took off. He ran like his life was on the line. But wait, this time, it seemed like it really
was. He ran across the room and went down the stairs to the refuge area they had gotten built
in case a fire ever broke out. He slammed the door shut and bolted it. The door could only be
opened using a key from outside. And the key in question was in his front pocket. He checked to
make sure. It was there, making itself comfortable in his pocket. At this point, Richard was
sweating profusely. He didn’t know what to think of this ordeal anymore. Surely, it must have
been some kind of a hallucination. His lack of sleep over the past few weeks might have
resulted in this. He decided to try and call someone and ask them to get him.
Richard opened up his phone. He dialled in Daniel’s number. Surely Daniel would come to pick
him up. They had been good friends long before Daniel was cast into the movie. The phone
rang. Once. Twice. In the middle of the third ring, he picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Daniel. There was a small mishap at the set today. Can you come and– OH NO”
There she was. At the back of the room. How could she possibly have gotten in? The creature
had a long hospital gown type of garment on. Her hair, jet black, covered her entire face and it
was so long that its tips reached the floor.
“Richard? You there? Everything alright?”
“You cheater. You left right in the middle of a game. Is that what you do to someone who just
wants to play a game of tag with you?”
“Uh, Richard? What’s that voice? You got a girl down there with you?”
Daniel could hear the voice too. Which meant he wasn’t hallucinating…
“Oh, Richard. You have tested my patience. I’m going to have to kill you.”
“I- No, you can’t do this to me. I- No PLEASE you don’t understand.”
“Next time, when someone asks you to play a game of tag with them, you listen to what they
say. I’m sorry, you’ve left me with no choice.”
“Richard Dew, director of the upcoming movie “Let’s Play”, died in a fire caused by a gas leak on
set” was the general theme of the front page of every newspaper in the country the next day.
Daniel swore there was a girl on the set with Richard – ‘I heard her!’ – but her body was never
found.

“Nobody is a villain in their own story. We’re all the heroes of our own stories.”

Monster. Evil. Diabolical. Uncontrollable. Just a few of the lovely words I’ve been called, time and again.

Greetings, dear reader. What you are about to set your eyes upon is not for the faint of heart.

My, my, where are my manners? I must introduce myself. The name is Scar, rightful heir to the Pride Lands. Does the name sound familiar?

You’ve heard the fanciful “Simba is the hero” version, I presume? Pah! That’s just the tall tale they tell to make sure the cubs sleep at night. You, on the other hand are about to discover the true story. My story.

Our story begins decades ago, on a golden day when the sun’s rays first gently caressed the majestic structure of Pride Rock, and a little cub were born to a lion king named Mazuri.

This cub had an older brother, who had been born a few years before him.

The two siblings were opposite in almost every way when it came to looks.

One had golden fur, the embodiment of the sun, the other with midnight fur, the moon.

These two cubs were named Mufasa and Taka.

As they grew up, it became apparent that their personalities were no less different than their looks. One had silly irrational ideas of how to rule the Pride Lands. The other was a visionary, with innovative ideologies that had potential to mould the future. The first cub had been born with raw brawn, the other with brains.

One day, Mufasa had found himself being chased by a stampeding herd of wildebeest, and had had been saved by Taka, who cleverly entrapped them in a gorge.

Mazuri and Taka stood at the edge of Pride Rock. The green land below was illuminated yellow. Beyond that, the land was shrouded in shadow. The sky was a fusion of a bright pink and dull blue, covered by a blanket of thickening clouds and mist.

Mazuri gazed down at his son and his eyes crinkled. “Do you know why I have brought you here, little one?” Taka shook his head expectantly, his eyes widening. Mazuri shook back the raven- black, glossy mane that framed his head and smiled. “ Look at the glorious savannah before you.” Taka gazed out at the infinite land in wonder. “This beautiful land will be yours to rule someday.” Mazuri’s low, voice echoed. Taka’s eyes lit up. He turned back to look at his father. “I promise,” Mazuri said softly.

Now that Taka knew that he was next in line to be king, he was overjoyed. It was the one thing he’d always desired. His father had promised him; and Mazuri had never been known to break a promise.

Or so he thought.

As the years crawled by, Mazuri grew older and older. One cold evening, he summoned Taka and Mufasa before him.    

“I grow old, sons,” he said hoarsely. “One of you must take the throne.” Taka’s eyebrow raised in suspicion. Mazuri’s bright eyes were filled with worry and anguish. He stepped back, his head bowed. “One of us?” Mufasa snarled. Taka turned to look at him, disoriented. “But- you promised me!” Taka said, his eyes ablaze. “Calm down now, sons,” Mazuri growled firmly, stamping his foot with authority.

Emotions raced at the speed of light through Taka’s mind. Betrayal… fear… sadness… anger. Seeing his sons like this, Mazuri looked broken. “You promised,” Taka whimpered. Mufasa turned to face Taka, his face reddening. “He promised me first, I’m sure,” Mufasa said, unsure of his own words. Taka turned to look expectantly at his father, the one lion he had trusted throughout his life, the one lion he’d had faith in, the one who had promised him. “I did,” Mazuri bowed his head sheepishly.

Taka’s anger towered. He stepped closer to his father. “You looked me in the eye,” he said, his growl icy. “I hadn’t decided,” said Mazuri, his forehead creasing. “That’s your excuse?” Taka snarled. Mufasa seemed troubled and angry at the same time. “Anyway, Mufasa is more fit to rule than you are,” Mazuri explained, tensing. With a dangerous click, his claws emerged from his paws. He approached Taka. “I thought you were a father. But you never were, were you? I always knew you favoured Mufasa. You never liked me do you? Do you know what my name means? It means waste. And you knew that.” Taka spat. Mazuri’s eyes blazed. Taka continued with satisfaction. “You never loved me. From the very start, you-“ Mazuri could bear it no more. He struck out at his second- born, slashing him across his eye. “ You would never live up to my expectations!” Mazuri roared. It echoed across the Pride Lands. Taka looked first at his father, then his brother. The pain seared on the skin near his eye. He felt broken. His father didn’t love him. He never had. The pain he felt on the wound was nothing compared to the hollowness on the inside.

From that day onwards, Taka renamed himself to Scar, to remind him never to trust anyone, that he was quite alone in this world, and as a reminder to take back what was rightfully his.

You see, my friend, I’m not as evil and all as you think, am I?

I’m sure you think you know what happens after that.

You probably think that Mufasa cared for the survival of every animal, don’t you? That he was perfect in every way?

But where was Mufasa when the hyenas were starving to death? Where was Mufasa when I was the only one who even cared to think about them? Where was he, I ask you!

I’m not going to try and justify what I did to Mufasa. I’m just going to provide all the puzzle pieces so you can look at the picture as a whole. Make of it what you will.

A humble ”villain”,

Scar

It was a dark, gloomy and wet Sunday afternoon as Johnny walked towards the playground. It was pouring all over Los Angeles. Johnny could hear the pitter – patter even when he was indoors. It was very windy so his umbrella was not doing a good job of protecting him from the rain. It took Johnny fifteen minutes to reach the playground. The playground was empty other than a few children with raincoats playing tag. As Johnny reached in the playground, he saw him. There stood Jacky Red, in a distance. He was the school bully. Jacky was strong and muscular. He had a round face and an ugly double chin. No one dared to face him.

“Hey doofus.” He called out as he spotted Johnny. Jacky loved to put down people by calling them names.

Johnny just ran. By now his umbrella flew away for good. When he reached home his legs gave up and he collapsed on the floor rug.

“Johnny you are soaking, what happened.” His mother exclaimed!

“Jacky … playground.” Johnny replied in between gasps

“Johnny you are a Valdez. You do not run from people you stand up to them. Look at your brother, Joe.” Said his mother, realizing what must have happened even before Johnny could explain.

Then his mother just walked away. It was true. His brother was perfect. He was a star soccer player and an ace student. Joe had short hair and had unique different coloured eyes. Ever since Johnny turned eight, his parents told him to do his own chores. He had to serve himself food and he had to have a bath by himself.  Therefore, he also had to get his own towel if he was wet. Sometimes he wondered if his parents actually did this just so he could be more like Joe.

Coming back to Jacky, well, he thought that every child his age or younger in Los Angeles was a wimp. His father told him to stay at the top of his class. As a result of all the false praise he received from his father, Jacky considered himself the most superior boy in Angeles High School. Jacky wanted to be the king of the world. He decided that if anybody was to be his equal, it had to be the rich and famous. He wanted to go to celebrity parties and hang out with rappers and actors.

Before we move ahead in the story, you should also know about Lucy.  Lucy is a twelve-year-old girl. She is a kind and short girl. She is in the same class as Johnny. Lucy is a very adventurous girl; she wants to find the lost city of Atlantis. Then find all the treasure buried in the ships that have fallen hostage to the Bermuda Triangle. She also wants to live the rest of her life in The Land of Timbuctoo. Timbuctoo is a mythical land where all things lost go. Her mother on the other hand, wants to go to someplace near India and hence, Lucy was going to go on a trek with her family to The Himalayas. Her friend Johnny is also going on a trek to the same place. Their school was on summer vacation for thirty days.

In the other side of town, Jacky was planning his trip to Nepal. He is on summer vacation too. His parents did not like his habit of bullying so they said that if he stopped being mean to people, they will take him there. He wanted to climb a mountain because it would symbolize that he will be the king of the world. His mother said that it would be a long journey and that he should sleep on the plane because it was going to be a very tiring trek. On the journey, in the plane, in his sleep Jacky dreamt that he would be sitting on a throne and having chicken while ordering people around.

There needs to be a mention of Julie here. She is a fair, tall girl who likes to play sports. She was going on the trek with Johnny and his family. They never met but their parents were good friends. Julie was not too keen on going for a trek. If there were two things that she did not like, they were walking and heights. These two things were unavoidable if you are going on a trek. She asked her mother if she could stay back but her mother just simply said no. She groaned and jumped on her bed. She was packing for the trek. She packed a lot of clothes because her mother said she might have to change many times in a day.

Jacky had been in Nepal for two days before they went to the foot hills of The Himalayas to begin their trek. When Jacky reached the start of the mountain he started jogging up. When his mother asked him if he wanted to go in a cable car Jacky just said that they were for wimps. When he stopped jogging, he turned around and saw Johnny with his family. 

Johnny, Jacky, Lucy, Julie and Joe were now all on the same trek in The Himalayas. For the first five minutes of the trek the only noises that Johnny could hear were his parents gossiping about what they were doing recently. Johnny and Julie had fallen behind while their parents seemed distracted by the conversations. Then suddenly Johnny heard a shriek. A mountain snake had come and was circling Julie.

Joe, grabbed the snake by its tail and flung it into the bushes. Johnny was shocked to see his brother take a snake and fling it into the bushes! Joe too seemed a little shocked after he realized what he had done. Everyone was clapping and his father wolf whistled.

 “Thank you for saving my daughter.” said Julie’s mother with a wobble in her voice. Julie was still frozen with fear. Johnny was just staring at his brother who could hardly believe what he did. Then he saw Lucy. When she spotted Johnny, she ran towards him. “What a coincidence that we are on the same trek.” She said.

“I was going to go to elsewhere, but my mother wanted to come here. She said something about me being too young to travel by myself. You know, adult talk.” Johnny laughed.  Lucy could make him laugh even if she is not trying to. Although sometimes it is hard to understand what she says because she changes to Japanese, her mother tongue. 

Johnny’s mother saw them talking and went over there. “Johnny, who is this?” she asked.

 “This is my friend Lucy; she is in my class.”  Johnny said.

“Hello Lucy.” His mother said politely.

The next couple of hours were pretty boring. Lucy and Johnny asked Julie a little about herself and they soon started playing ‘I spy’ because there were many things around them. After an hour or so they reached the first resting station. By that time, Lucy’s mother introduced herself to the others and we were all trekking together. Julie’s mother explained that resting stations are small huts where people rest for a short period of time. Inside Johnny’s hut, he removed his mittens, hat, boots and his ear muffins.

Before they started climbing the mountain again, they decided to start eating the food that they packed for the trek. They got a few sandwiches and some hot chocolate. They ate for fifteen minutes before continuing the trek. Johnny wanted to take an easy stroll after eating so much. His mother told him not to take too much time because it was going to get dark soon. Johnny walked towards the edge of the mountain to look how high he was. He felt he was as high as the aircrafts flying in the sky. He was busy looking at the scenery to notice that the part of the mountain below him was beginning to crack. ‘CRASH!’ He fell off the ledge and landed stomach first on to a tree’s branch. Just before slipping off the branch, he managed to grab onto it. Johnny’s heart was beating so fast he was sure that a heart monitor would had broken.

He could see the sun setting now. His parents would probably be worried sick. He could see the ledge where he fell from. He wanted to grab it but he was afraid that he would slip and fall to his doom. Then he saw a hand. It was a big hand with dotted mittens.

“Grab on.” the voice said to him.
It sounded very familiar but he just could not put a face to the voice. Suddenly he knew the familiar panic he was feeling, the voice was Jacky’s.

“What is he doing here.” Johnny mumbled to himself. He wondered if it was a trick. He reluctantly tried to grab his hand but missed. Would Jacky, the bully, make him fall and then laugh all the way home, thought Johnny.

Johnny decided he had no option but to trust Jacky and go for it. The second attempt turned out to be successful, Jacky used all of his might to pull Johnny up. Johnny was in shock for more reasons that one. He found the words somehow to thank Jacky and ran to where his parents were. When they heard about Jacky’s heroics they immediately went to his hut and thanked him.

Jacky declared that he had two choices, to be the big, bad bully or the fan favorite hero. “I chose to be the hero.” Jacky bellowed, posing with his hands on his hips. Turns out that not all bullies are bad. Some can be superheroes too.

There were two more days left for all of them in the trekking adventure. The five children got together to make a small skit for their parents to show how Jacky heroically saved Johnny from a horrible situation. Once they were back home, Johnny and Jacky sorted out their differences and soon became best friends. Turns out that Jacky was just a bully because he had no friends and was very lonely. Now that they were all friends, together they tried to have fun and be heroes every day.

My life began when I was born in the year 2001.The first thing I remember is seeing my mother. Her beautiful blue eyes and silky hair. That’s all I remember of her. When I was four years old, my dad told me that I was old enough to know that my mother died of cancer when I was a baby. That explains why I never see her. As I was growing up, I realized life was hard for my dad and I. He was always struggling to find a job and spent all his money on my education. I’ve given it my all to help him but nothing seems to be working. Then one day something strange happened. Let me take you back, two years in 2008, Washington DC.

“Come Jake time to go.” Said Dad

“Go where dad?”, I replied feeling a bit dazed at the thought of travel.

“For the millionth time, we’re going to Florida for your summer vacation.”

“But dad we would have to spend money and we don’t even have that much.”

“Relax, everything will be okay, it is our first vacation in six years.”

 “Fine I’ll come”

He always tells me to relax but how can I? I am extremely surprised because I have never seen him so calm before! I got ready for the flight and packed my bag. The trip to the airport was pretty boring since there are a lot of busy streets and people go to work the entire day. Living in Washington DC isn’t easy because there is a lot of traffic and it is really busy city. When we reached the airport there was a massive crowd. I predicted they were all going for holidays and I was right. There were people going to different places like Chicago, Florida, India and Italy. People were carrying all sorts of different luggage like sweaters, mittens and beach trunks among other kind of holiday gear.  Once we got through the crowd, we boarded the plane and sat in our seats.

I told my dad I was hungry but he said I needed to wait for the food trolly to come. Finally, after what felt like hours of waiting, the food trolly came.

“Okay, what do you want to eat?”, dad asked me.

 “Hmmm I want a cup of noodles.” Somehow, I loved the idea of eating junk on airplanes although I don’t remember being on one.

There was one big problem, it cost money. We were already spending a lot of money on the trip I didn’t want to spend more

“Dad do we have to pay money?”

“Yes son.” He replied rather firmly, “Now, can we please get one cup of noodles and one English breakfast?” He asked the air hostess.

 I had my noodles and slept for the rest of the flight. Once the flight ended, we gathered our luggage and started leaving. When we were about to leave my dad took an abrupt left and met up with a woman.

“Jake, I would like you to meet Lucy. I met her at my job interview.”

“Hi Lucy,” I said

“She is coming to the same hotel as us.”

I didn’t like this one bit. When I wasn’t looking Lucy asked my dad out for dinner and he said yes.

 “Hope to see you soon.”

After Lucy said that, she walked away and so did we.

In the cab while driving to the resort my dad asked me why I looked so sulky and angry. I didn’t answer but after sometime he realized why.

“Look, we have been facing a lot of challenges lately and I think Lucy is perfect. Your mother meant the world to me and I hoped she would have never left but she has. Lucy asked me out for dinner and I accepted.”

Later that night I was watching TV while my dad was getting ready to meet Lucy. I thought about what he had said in the car. I wanted to sabotage their date so badly but I couldn’t figure how. Let’s wait and see how their dinner pans out. Once my dad came out of the bathroom, he told me I was coming for dinner with them. I was nervous to go for dinner with Lucy but then again, this was the perfect opportunity to ruin their date.

 After some time I considered the invitation and told my dad I was coming. I was so distracted forming a plan in my head I didn’t hear my dad shouting my name.

 “Jake…. Jake…Jake can you hear me?”

“Yeah, what happened?”

“Go for your bath, we have leave in ten minutes.”

I had my bath and wore my best clothes. Outside I saw many other kids with their mothers and I started to feel a bit left out. I still didn’t have a plan but while we were walking to the hotel’s restaurant, I noticed there were places where you could buy balloons. That’s when it struck me, my master plan. I asked my dad if I could buy some balloons. He said yes so, I bought some balloons and kept them in my pocket. When we reached the restaurant, I told my dad I needed to use the washroom. I went there and filled one balloon with water and left the rest deflated. I think you know where this is going. I came out with the water balloon in my pocket and joined Lucy and my dad at the table. I started eating my pasta when Lucy asked my dad how he manages with me with all his problems.

“It isn’t that hard since Jake cooperates a lot and he never makes a fuss. He always looks out for me and does what’s best for himself too.” my dad replied

“Is this true?” Lucy asked me.

 I finished swallowing my bite like any good boy would and replied “Yes I always look out for him.”

Feeling very proud I went back to eating my pasta.

“He seems like a great child Arnold. You should be proud.”

“I am really proud that he is my kid.”

At that moment I was really doubting myself whether I should splash Lucy with a water balloon. I did what had to be done.

I pretended to accidentally drop my fork under the table and told my dad I was going to pick it up. I went under the table, removed the deflated balloons and filled two with air. I crawled back to my chair, stood up and gave the balloons to Lucy. She was starstruck.

“Here you go, I filled some balloons for you.”

“Thank you so much. No one has ever given me a special gift before.”

I felt extremely happy and surprisingly amazed at myself. From hating Lucy to giving her balloons.

“Well done, Jake, I didn’t know you had it in you. See, I told you, you’d like her,” my dad proudly said.

 “Turns out she isn’t so bad; sorry I was mad at you,” I replied.

“It’s okay,” he told me.

The rest of the vacation went much better. We spent a lot of time with Lucy, she introduced us to her parents and we even watched a movie together in my room

Life has become much easier for my dad and I. We have moved from our old house; I have a good school and lots more friends. We don’t live in a small house anymore and my dad has more money as he is able to keep his job. Now he works as a mechanic and has opened his own company ‘Under the Hood’. We live in Florida and we have new family member; Lucy. 

On the Other Side by Himarsha Mulchandani

“Liam!”, called out Amber, “What’s this thing with a spring and a funnel sticking out of it?”

“That must be the old car’s carburetor.”, said Liam, walking over to her, “It’s of no use now, you can just put it in the bin.”

It was summer of 2030. The Miller kids, Liam and Amber, were cleaning up the garage. Liam, a 14-year-old boy, was a mechanical genius. He knew all sorts of things about cars, levers and pulleys. He had jet black hair and sea green eyes, with a hint of smugness in his expression. Amber was two years younger and stored facts in that big brain of hers. She had the same striking features as her brother. They both had one thing in common – exploring things. They used to go for hiking on the nearby hills together for long periods of time. That day, they were trapped inside their house, cleaning their garage instead of roaming outside in the pleasant weather.

Amber wrinkled her nose and picked up the greasy carburetor. It was stacked on a pile of some dusty books, but the topmost one caught her eye – written vividly on it in large bold letters were the words ‘AREA 51′.

She froze in her place.

She called her brother, but her voice came out an octave higher than she intended.

“What now?”, Liam said in an exasperated voice, “Should I also teach you how to differentiate between a dismantled gear shift and a door handle?”

But when he saw the book, it was his turn to freeze. He mouthed the words ‘Area 51’ and stared at it in disbelief. Amber sat down, cross-legged, blew the dust off the book, took it in her lap and opened it.

Liam sat next to her and said in an undertone, “Grandpa used to tell us stories about how he once broke into the secret military air base Area 51. He told us there was an old journal of his in the garage.”

Amber furrowed her brows and began reading,

“1980, June the third.

Today, in the morning I had gone to explore Area 51. No wonder they have kept the base a secret. It’s full of things that humans could have never dreamt of. Tomorrow, I plan to break into the innovation room. I have made a brief schematic map to guide me for tomorrow’s adventure. This could be stated as an unjust affair as all the common people also deserve to know the truth about the happenings there.

– David Miller.”

When Amber finished reading this, Liam said, “I used to think he told us the stories just for the sake of our amusement. But they’re all true! Wouldn’t it be good, if we check it out for ourselves? I vote we go there, right now”

Amber nodded and flipped through the pages. “Liam, you would need to disarm all the alarms, motion sensors, open doors and stuff.”

“It’s fine really, I learned all that in my robotics class. Besides! You would need some of your improvisation tricks to get us past trouble.”

“All the supplies? Are they-”, before she could complete the sentence Liam interrupted her.

“Don’t worry. I always keep my bag ready. Who knows when we’re going off to an unexpected hike?”, he grinned, “Now grab the map, before our parents come to know what we’re up to.”

The Millers lived near Area 51, officially known as Homey airport and it was a short walk of 20 minutes. They had to cross a narrow stream and a thicket of thorny bushes. Then, they reached a clearing with an electric fence surrounding the air base. It was six feet tall, so there was no way that they could jump over it.

“Now what?”, asked Liam.

Amber looked around. Her gaze fell on a medium sized rock that looked pretty heavy. She walked over to it and asked Liam to help her lift it. She said, “We need to make them think it’s a short circuit by placing this rock on the fence. This will give us approximately two minutes till the time they reboot the system.”

Amber and Liam hefted the rock on to the fence. When Amber was about to touch the fence Liam said, “Wait.”

He plucked a leaf blade from the ground, “We would need to check first, whether it’s safe to go or not.”

Liam gently touched the leaf blade to the fence and didn’t feel the electric pulse. He quickly stretched the wires upward and went inside, Amber followed suit.

The base was silent as the grave. Different kinds of aircrafts were lined up on the runway. Liam ran up to one of the fighter planes and climbed to the cockpit. “Whoa! They are a beauty.”, he exclaimed.

When he peeped inside, he was flabbergasted. Amber, naturally, came running after him. “What are you staring at?” she asked. He pointed towards the speedometer, “Its maximum speed is 20,000 mph.”

Amber gasped, “That’s new. They got so far without informing any other kind of organization. Bizarre.”

Liam descended downwards and spoke, “Maybe they didn’t want to see what happened next if their enemies figured out the technology.”

“Fair point,”, Amber agreed. She unfolded the map and said with a smirk, “want to check out the innovation room?”

They navigated their way through the aircrafts. Finally, they came to a halt in front of a 15-storey tall building. “The map says the innovation room is on the first floor.”, noted Amber. As she moved forward Liam stopped her.

 “There’s a CCTV camera at the entrance.”, he hissed.

Thankfully the camera was facing the other side. Liam opened his bag and held out a diagonal plier. Then, he climbed a ladder called ‘Amber’, and cut off the wire.

Liam said, “There are thousands of CCTVs in this whole facility, so maybe we’d have enough time to check this room out until the security guards show up.”

The door was already open.

They entered the room; it was in the form of vast circle with no one inside it.

“Where is everyone?”, questioned Amber.

“Guess it’s our lucky day.”, he answered.

The room was blindingly white in color. On a table there was a nasty looking green colored gum with a label that read “Toothache curing chewing gums”. Amber and Liam found this very funny because chewing gums caused tooth aches rather than curing them.

A chart stuck on the wall was a new version of the periodic table with three extra columns added to it.

There was a stand from which half a dozen jetpacks were hanging. They were blue and white in color with triangle shaped propellers. Each of the jetpack had a button on its side. When Liam pressed it, it turned into a ball pen sized stick.

On a whiteboard, a theory about wormholes, was proved to be true.

Then, they opened a door and went to smaller part of the room. There was a huge machine with a chair on one side and a laser beam pointing towards the chair. The machine had a sticky note that read – “Time Travel Machine – Not Functional.”

As soon as the two kids read this, they quickly closed the door behind them, because who wants to get lost in a time stream and have no hopes of coming back?

The surprises never ceased. They stepped inside another door which was also part of the room. Inside, a dozen robots were flying around and beeping in ‘machine language’, which of course neither of them understood.

Suddenly, the lights in the room started flashing eye burning red. The alarms started blaring. Loud shouts in the distance and also the sound of running feet started echoing through the room.

Amber and Liam stared at each other in horror. “They’re coming.”, Liam said in a small voice.

Amber grabbed two jetpacks and gave one to her brother, “Strap it on your back.”, she said, “Let’s fly.”

The moment they were airborne, the door burst open. The trained soldiers with their rifles shouted in unison, “Freeze!”

But it was too late. They zoomed off, Liam even kicked two guards right in the face and said, “Whoops! Didn’t see you.”

The guards were fast. They chased them, but the kids were faster. They both had exited the room from the back door which led them into a car parking lot. They dodged pillars and bikes. The guards were slowly trailing behind, but nevertheless they fled into the emergency exit staircase at the end of the parking area. Amber hurriedly opened the map and said, “Let’s go to the second floor, it’s under renovation.”

They flew over one staircase. As soon as they reached the floor, guards rushed at them from either of the sides.

“We’re trapped!”, shouted Liam.

“Not completely.”, said Amber, “Here’s the plan – kick as many guards in the face you can and fly towards the exit.”

“Since I haven’t got a better idea, let’s do it.”

They both charged towards the exit, kicking guards in whichever places their muddy boots found. Amber recalled from the map that on the fourth floor there was a small area marked as ‘cleaning room’. Again, they flew over two more staircases. Finally, they reached the door that said Conference Room 1. They landed without the slightest noise. Beside the door was another room with a gleaming bronze plate, the words marked on it ‘Cleaning Area’.

Without delay, they got inside it. Lots of brooms and buckets were kept in the dingy room. Amber noticed a small hatch in the wall and opened it. She stifled a yelp. She motioned Liam to see through it.

There was a long wooden table. Twenty to thirty people were seated around it. Half of them looked very abnormal. With the height of almost ten feet, they had slimy brown skin, bulging eyes and a nose so long, it could have belonged to Pinocchio. Amber and Liam could hear parts of the conversation.

A human said, “Great Zee-Blinga, that is very generous of you. The portal between two different worlds is a great opportunity for us to bond.”

Liam whispered, “The conspiracy theories about Area 51 are true. Aliens, UFO’s and all of that.”

Amber shushed him, “Listen!”

The creature called Zee-Blinga spoke in a deep gravelly voice, “After spending millions of years of searching for any signs of life in the universe, we found earth. Together we can be stronger and find new life in the ever-expanding cosmos. I will be providing you with the wormhole technology-based portal in a few days’ time, which will warp spacetime around it and create a smaller path of 12 hours to our solar system- Alpha Centauri which is 4 light years away from earth. Now, it’s time for me and my companions to go.”

“Very well.”, said a woman, who seemed to be the head of the team as there was a small batch pinned to her coat that read CEO. She stood up and bowed. Zee-Blinga did the same.

Amber closed the hatch. The siblings looked at each other. From this day onwards nothing was going to be the same. The ingenious minds of the people of Area 51 had found friendly life on the other side.

Liam said, “We are not alone in the universe. We never were.”

THE END